ARNE : His work bridges two cultures S D D O D D I V A D Y B O T O H P

by David Dodds now 85, a former University of North - From 1920 to 1940, a 13-mile rail - Dakota (UND) languages scholar and way was constructed through the Flåm he of Arne Brekke’s youth longtime Grand Forks, North Dakota, Valley. It wasn’t long before railcars Tis the one of postcards and travel businessman, and his family were no would be bringing as many as 650,000 guides. different. tourists a year. Eventually, a new high - It’s the iconic representation of Scan - Travel promotion is in Brekke’s way between Oslo and Bergen added a dinavia: lush green agrarian valleys blood, and for more than 50 years he’s million more by car. lorded over by snow-capped peaks feed - made a living at it. He’s the founder of Cruise ships started packing the ing ancient streams and rivers that flow Brekke Tours & Travel, a successful tight coastal inlets to the point that into the world-famous fjords, forming a Grand Forks-based business that spun many more had to be turned away for mirrored reflection of Mother Nature’s off his UND scholarly work on lan - lack of room, Brekke says. terrestrial masterpiece above. guages and Scandinavian place names This was the view from Brekke’s as well as the strong connections he’s Love of language homeland doorstep in the Flåm Parish maintained in his native Norway. In addition to being a good host and Valley, in the present-day municipality Brekke didn’t set out to be one of the guide for these world visitors, young of Aurland by the famous “Sogne world’s most prolific and successful Brekke had a knack for languages. Fjord,” the world’s longest and deepest. tour operators. The tracks along that Today, he rattles off German, Swedish, For generations, Flåm Parish has path were laid, figuratively and literally, French and Icelandic as languages he’s been a fertile land for farmers and fam - before he was born, with the construc - able to communicate in effectively. ilies who lived off the land. But once tion of the Oslo-Bergen Railway across As a boy during the Nazi occupation the secret of its beauty escaped, and the high mountain range in western of Norway, he was called “young pro - once the Norwegian government made Norway. A construction road was built fessor” by German foot soldiers in need access to the region easier with new through the Flåm Valley to supply ma - of his translation help, Brekke recalled. highways and railways to and from terials for the railroad, and when the The exposure to so many foreign population centers such as Bergen and railway was finished in 1909, the road tongues from tourists and others allowed Oslo, the rest of the world started com - continued to be used by tourists by him to practice and hone his gift, espe - ing en masse. horse and buggy on their way to the fa - cially when it came to English. He speaks And the folks of Flåm have obliged mous fjord country. affectionately and appreciatively of an visiting throngs by building hotels and During this period, the farmers of the aunt Lizzie Haynes, who hailed from offering tourist facilities to supplement region did much better economically if England and who gave him his first for - their agricultural way of life. Brekke, they could speak English to the tourists. mal tutelage in the English language.

3@ SUMMER 2 01 4 | SCANDINAVIAN PRESS “That English helped me so much Brekke estimates that he’s chartered to In recognition of his contributions, later in life,” Brekke said. Norway more than 200,000 tourists— the Chester Fritz Library named the With a solid background in English, many seeking their ancestral roots— Bygdebøk Collection in honor of Arne Brekke headed abroad to pursue his ed - and countless others to other points in 2010. And thanks to Arne and his ucational goals in the heart of America around the globe. He has also helped a daughter, Dr. Karen Hoelzer, the Arne and the epicenter of Scandinavian im - large number of Norwegians to visit G. Brekke Endowment was started to migrant culture. He landed at Luther America. fund ongoing support for the collection College in Decorah, Iowa, in 1949. Since 1956, Brekke says there’s only and its activities. Officials there were so impressed with been one year that he was unable to re - Brekke continues to do his part to Brekke’s proficiency in English that turn to Norway at least once, though in secure copies of all known Norwegian they worked out an arrangement to some years he’s made five or six trips. bygdebøker. At last count, the collec - provide him free room and board. In 1977, Brekke received the St. Olav tion numbered about 1,340*. “We are He would go on to receive his bach - Medal from Norway for his work to getting closer to having a complete col - elor’s degree in English from Luther foster relationships between people of lection of all bygdebøker in one build - College and a master’s degree in Eng - Norwegian descent and their ancestral ing,” he says. “That is truly amazing!” lish from the University of Colorado in homeland. 1952. He did graduate work at Cornell Culture bridge University and returned to Luther Col - Brekke said the next goal, working lege in 1954 to become head of the with Special Collections archivists, is to Norwegian Department there for three make the entire list of bygdebøker years. available online**. Library staff have It was during his stay at Luther Col - created a website (library.und.edu/spe - lege that Brekke organized his first es - cial-collections/bygdebok) for people corted tour of Europe as a way to fund to find information about the individ - a return visit to his homeland. Brekke ual publications in the collection. The said this arrangement was the “very website is used by people throughout modest” beginning of what would be - North America and also by researchers come his travel business later in life. in Norway. Brekke got his Ph.D. from the Uni - The collection Brekke still communicates nearly versity of Chicago in 1962, becoming Brekke’s desire to foster these rela - daily with friends and colleagues in an expert in comparative Germanic tionships extends beyond his travel Norway, pounding out letters in Nor - and Indo-European languages and agency to another of his great passions. wegian. Sometimes it’s to request more place name research. Again, he found In 1980, Brekke began spearheading bygdebøker; other times, it’s simply to himself sought after by others: “I was a project to greatly bolster the Norwe - keep in touch. Whatever the reason, able to interpret names that other peo - gian genealogical research materials of Brekke explains the true value of his ple couldn’t interpret,” he said. the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of activities is that it enables him to keep Special Collections within UND’s up-to-date with the Norwegian lan - Birth of a business Chester Fritz Library. At the time, Spe - guage, which, like all living languages, To finance his studies, Brekke main - cial Collections had only two sets of is ever-evolving. tained his role as tour operator, leading “bygdebøker,” compiled histories of ge - It also allows him to keep doing summer tours throughout Europe. nealogical, cultural and geographical what he does best—bridging cultures, Brekke joined the UND faculty in information about local areas. something he’s been doing his entire 1962, teaching primarily German and So with the acumen of a scholar, life. “It has been a great ride so far, and Norwegian classes. That same year, Brekke began penning letters in his na - it’s been so much fun.” Brekke connected with a Sons of Nor - tive Norwegian to representatives of way lodge in North Dakota and worked Norway’s nearly 450 municipalities. Editor’s note: This article first ap - out a deal to organize charter flights to With each letter, he requested dona - peared in UND Discovery magazine’s Norway for the lodges. tions of bygdebøker. Autumn 2012 edition. We are reprint - “That’s when the numbers started “Within a year, we had secured ing it here with permission; the au - becoming very large for us,” said about 200 more volumes, and we had thor is editor of that magazine. Brekke, describing a burgeoning travel about 600 in three years,” Brekke said. business model. His success in this ven - He used his chartered trips to Nor - *As of October 2014, that number has ture directly led to the formation of his way to promote the bygdebøker proj - surpassed the milestone of 1,500—and business: Brekke Tours & Travel, a full- ect, often garnering attention through reached 1510! service travel agency specializing in Norwegian media who took part in the **See article on next pages for update. “heritage tours” to and from Norway. trips, and as a way to transport the sets In a career that spans 57 years, back to Grand Forks.

SCANDINAVIAN PRESS | SUMMER 2 01 4 3# Scan Gen NUMBER 6 IN A SERIES R E F R O T S I N I W N N A O J Y B O T O H P UND collection brings gift of family history to world by Jo Ann Winistorfer been expecting these books, and what a wegian roots is that they often contain coincidence that they have arrived histories of farms and names of those e arrive at Chester Fritz Library today, in time for your visit,” he says. living there through the ages. Some of Won the University of North Dak- Despite his age (he’s 87), he’s as ex - the history dates back a thousand years, ota (UND) Campus in Grand Forks, cited as a little kid at Christmas. He sits when the farms were first established. North Dakota, promptly at 1 p.m. down at the table and thumbs through Our guide is Dr. Arne Brekke, one of the just-arrived volumes. Crash course on bygdebøker owner of Brekke Tours & Travel and “Do you realize the magnitude of We’re joined by Michael Swanson, the Grand Forks guru of a Norwegian this collection?” he tells us. “It’s one of assistant archivist and primary contact phenomenon known as bygdebøker. the largest accumulations of bygde - of the bygdebøker department. He’s We (Arne, writer Larrie Wanberg and bøker in the world, even bigger than also president of the Minnkota Ge - I) ride the elevator to the fourth floor— those in Norway!” nealogical Society. the “penthouse,” Arne jokes, exiting at In fact, researchers in Norway refer According to Michael, the bygde - the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of to the UND collection website for in - bøker are usually listed according to Special Collections. formation, he says. They have no col - the name of the kommune (municipal - Arne ushers us into a room full of lection this complete in their country. ity), the administrative divisions within bookcases containing many hundreds A bygdebok (pronounced big-da- each fylke (district or province). of volumes, arranged in sets of several book, plural bygdebøker) is a history of Michael explains that bygdebøker on up to a dozen or more. Each set rep - a bygd (parish or municipality) in Nor - are grouped into three categories: resents a specific area of Norway. way. Unique among countries, Norway • General —a general history of the A photo of Arne hangs on one wall, has compiled and published farm and area. Typically organized into chapters with a heading proclaiming, “The Arne family histories since the last century, a by time period and/or by topic, these G. Brekke Bygdebok Collection.” project that continues. books may include short sections of in - Several stacks of bygdebøker laid What makes these books such valu - terest to genealogists such as the early out on a table catch Arne’s eye. “We’ve able tools for those seeking their Nor - development of the farms, descriptions

3$ SUMMER 2 01 4 | SCANDINAVIAN PRESS tin, web services librarian (who is also a linguist), for designing the site. Linguistics plays a role Trying to find whether a bygdebok exists for the areas of your Norwegian ancestors involves some homework. And that’s where Arne’s skills as a linguist and an expert in comparative

R Germanic and Indo-European lan - E F

R guages come into play. A special inter - O T S

I est of Arne’s is finding the original N I

W meanings of place names. N

N While historians and others may use A O

J “folk entymology” to reconstruct the Y

B meanings, Arne stresses that “linguis - O T

O tics” are needed to ferret out the true H P meaning. That may entail going back to Arne points out the bygdebøker for the community of Luster in og Fjordane some of the earliest sources to interpret fylke (green books above his hand) as being the “most professionally done.” it correctly. “You need to check the ear - liest spellings, the earliest documents,” of local customs, and perhaps special of the area, including individual farms. he says. listings of individuals or emigrants. A click on “Alphabetical” under the Arne points to the 10 volumes, soon • Farms —histories of the main word “Places” in the guide yields a long to become 12, for the kommune of Lus - farms in an area. These books usually list of municipalities and parishes (or ter, in fylke. These include information on farm owners sokns/sogns) covered by the bygde - bygdebøker are “the most profession - and their families—the most useful bøker. This list also helps one to under - ally done,” he says. Unlike any others, type of bygdebøker to genealogists. stand the placement of the three extra they include summaries in English. • People —typically, name indexes Norwegian letters—Æ (æ), Ø (ø) and Å Luster is located along the , representing those living in an area. (å or aa)—at the tail end of the alpha - fed by meltwaters from Jotunheimen Usually in the form of alphabetical list - bet. and the Jostedalsbreen glaciers. ings, sometimes the names are While Michael adds information What was the meaning of the mu - arranged into family units or pedigree when each new set of bygdebøker come nicipality word Luster in Sogn? “Norsk charts. in, he and Arne both credit Will Mar - stadnamnleksikon,” the official lexicon Michael boots up a computer in the corner and takes us on a tour of the website: http://library.und.edu/special- collections/bygdebok/. The first thing to pop up is the home page, which contains a digital map of Norway. Clicking on the fylke of interest on the map (or listed under “legend),” takes you to a more detailed map showing communities in that re - gion. On the right-hand side is a listing of all the municipalities in that fylke that are featured in bygdebøker housed in G R the UND collection. Corresponding E B N

blue pins on the map point out those A W E areas as well. The map can be zoomed I R R

to view more details. A L Y

Clicking on one of the municipali - B O

ties listed at the right takes you to a T O H

graph showing all the bygdebøker P available for that municipality—and to Michael Swanson (right), assistant archivist, and I listen as Arne proudly proclaims another smaller map with finer details the UND bygdebøker to be “among the largest such collections in the world.”

SCANDINAVIAN PRESS | SUMMER 2 01 4 3% of Norwegian place names, edited by laws at the turn of the last century Jørn Sandnes and Ola Stemshaug in forced them to choose a stable sur - 1976, suggests the meaning as “the name—one that didn’t change with warm fjord, the mild fjord or the quiet each generation, some Norwegians fjord,” in comparison to the neighbor - dropped the farm name and chose the ing Årdal Fjord. patronymic (ending in -son or -sen);

However, Arne came up with a new others chose the farm name. R E F

interpretation by applying the science Names were also Anglicized, further R O T

of comparative linguistics—and the sci - distorting the Norwegian name. And to S I N ence of glaciology. Luster in Norway further complicate things, the Norse al - I W N

has sprung from the same Indo-Euro - phabet has three additional letters not N A pean root as Latin lustro/lustrare, found in English that fall at the end in O J Y which means “to make bright, illu - an alphabetical listing in Norse. Thus a B O mine,” it refers to the reflection of light kommune such as Ådal (also spelled T O H in suspended particles of sand, silt and Aadal) would be found after the “z,” not P clay in water, carried by glacial water at the beginning of the alphabet. Arne points out that many of the into the Luster Fjord! The name of the farms have not bygdebøker contain pictures of Norwe - changed since ancient times. However, gian farms along with their histories. What’s in a name? the same farm name may be found in Speaking of place names, often the multiple fylker (plural of fylke), so it’s Marthaler, a genealogist from St. Joseph, last name of searchers with Norwegian important to establish the parish or Minnesota. For a fee of $75, Brekke’s roots can yield clues as to the place of community in which the farm is located. will arrange for her to do research. The origin of their ancestors. Brekke Tours has extensive informa - firm can then make any desired travel When Norwegians immigrated to tion on all aspects of Norway: the loca - arrangements. North America, most carried with tion of all farms; detailed information If requested, Jean also makes contact them three names: their given name on the 448 municipalities; current in - with the searcher’s relatives in Norway. (example: Knut), patronymic name formation on persons employed in the And, if possible, Brekke Tours guides (Temanson, meaning “son of Teman”), communities (mayors and cultural di - them to the home farm. Not all places and farm name (Størodden, meaning rectors), and access to the latest ge - are readily accessible during tours. “from a farm called Størodden”). nealogical information. Some can only be reached by boat or When Knut moved to another farm In many cases, Brekke Tours can helicopter, but Brekke’s has organized (let’s say Gravli), he would be identified help Norwegian-Americans find their such “off-the-beaten-path” tours before. by the name of the new farm, thus be - places of origin in Norway. And when Arne tells this story: “A guy in coming Knut Temanson Gravli. The they do, “These people want to go there Chicago lost contact with his family in farm name thus points to the place of to see where their families came from,” Norway and Minnesota. He meets a the immigrant’s residence. he says. That benefits the tourism side guy in Wisconsin who asked him, Not all Norwegian families kept the of the business. ‘Have you tried Brekke Tours in North farm name. When North American Brekke Tours’ secret weapon is Jean Dakota?’ ”

UND website: library.und.edu/special-collections/bygdebok Clicking on the fylke (in this case, Nordland) on the main map (far left) takes you to a map with blue pins indicating communities in that fylke with bygdebøker. A click on one of the pins (or on the listing of kommuner to its right) whisks you to a graph showing bygdebøker available for that area—in this example, Sømna in Nordland.

3^ SUMMER 2 01 4 | SCANDINAVIAN PRESS The man did just that! Jean Marthaler’s research determined there Do your homework first! were three brothers who emigrated from Norway originally. A fourth Key to finding the bygdebøker that may contain information on one’s family brother came later with his wife and is determining the area one’s ancestors came from in Norway. nine kids. The Chicagoan was de - That may involve checking for records such as birth, marriage and death scended from the former group. certificates, church records, U.S. and Canadian censuses, county or province “I then connected them to family histories and old newspapers, or asking older relatives. and took them to Flåm,” Arne says. It Websites such as the Digital Archives of Norway (digitalarkivet.uib. no) turned out the man was a shirt-tail rel - provide free access to searchable databases and images of primary records, ative of Arne’s! helpful tools for tracing one’s Norwegian roots. Another important resource is the bygdelag (pronounced big-da-log ), an or - How to access bygdebøker ganization comprised of people whose ancestors originated from a particular When you establish the correct district in Norway and immigrated to North America. bygdebøker for your family’s history For example, the bygdelag covering the three northern districts of Nord - and find the title, author, call number land, Troms and Finnmark in Norway is called Nordlandslaget. This group will and type of book (general, farm or peo - be holding its annual stevne (meeting) in Grand Forks on June 24-26. ple), how can you access the book? For more information on bygdelag (plural bygdelagene ), visit the Norwe - First, you can contact Brekke Tours, gian-American Bygdelagenes Fellesraad (NABF) site. NABF is the national and request a form, which can be sent council for the 29 (currently active) affiliated Norwegian-American bygdela - to you online. gene. Each lag has a genealogist who can be contacted for genealogical infor - Why hasn’t the UND Library mation. For details, log on to www.fellesraad.com. scanned these books in their entirety so researchers can download them? Copy - right restrictions prevent that. “Even contain errors. Despite this, these are reality. Among them is the University the Family History Library in Salt Lake among the most valuable of Norway’s of North Dakota. “Without their help, City, Utah, is trying to get permission resources for finding family history. we couldn’t have done it,” he says. to digitize these books,” Michael says. Many of those he has led on tours But thus far, this hasn’t happened. Funds readily available through Norway have also donated to A few bygdebøker can be down - New bygdebøker continue to be the cause. Area businesses have con - loaded from other websites. To learn published across Norway. Some of tributed as well. And help from Nor - which ones are online, do a “google” these are completely new books, while way has been invaluable. search for “bygdebøker online.” others update and correct information Arne himself has gleaned honors as Another source for bygdebøker is provided in previous editions. a result of this project. In October interlibrary loan. While no library has Arne continues to keep close tabs on 2011, the North Dakota Library Asso - the collection that UND has amassed, any new printings, and to solicit miss - ciation presented Arne with its Major some have other bygdebøker in their ing volumes or books not yet in the Benefactor Award. He was nominated archives. And some loan out their collection. The goal: The initial goal of by UND Library Director Wilbur Stolt books. 1,500 has been reached, and dozens of for being the “driving force behind the To find out if such a book is available more books will arrive soon from Nor - growth of the Library’s Norwegian for the area of your ancestors, talk to way. Arne will celebrate the accom - Bygdebok Collection.” your local librarian, who can check to plishment at his lake home near Park Arne beams with pride over his see if a particular bygdebok can be ob - Rapids, Minnesota, one of his “hubs of “babies,” the bygdebøker that march tained through interlibrary loan. When heritage” (the other two, he says, are across the shelves surrounding us. In - it arrives, you can browse through the Brekke Tours and the UND Library). stead of passing out cigars, he dishes bygdebok before returning it. Arne has deposited funds in Norwe - out praise. The fact that UND does not lend its gian kroner in a bank in Norway, “This is a collection of world fame, bygdebøker benefits those who visit the which can be transferred electronically of global reach,” Arne says. “People library in person: They can be as sured for purchase and shipment of books to have called us from Norway to Aus - the books they need to research are there the UND Bygdebok Collection. Some tralia. They say, ‘There’s nothing any - and not out on interlibrary loan! of the books are donated for free; oth - where in the world like this.’ ” Researchers should keep in mind ers may be purchased at a discount. A former student of Arne, married that not every area’s books are equal Still others are paid for in full. in Norway, Gloria Gransberg, has also when it comes to the genealogy informa - established a major endowment for the tion they provide. Plus, not all commu - Giving thanks collection. nities published such books. And since Arne gives credit to all those who these are secondary sources, they can have helped to make the collection a

SCANDINAVIAN PRESS | SUMMER 2 01 4 3&